Are you a Larry?
My husband and I do this thing where we associate a person’s name with an action or mood. For example if I’m being particularly chatty he might say I’m being a Terry….as in Terry Talker.(All names used in this post are in good fun and NOT aimed at any specific person…. so if you see your name in this post don’t be a Paul. Paul Pouter)
Someone brought up in discussion recently how they were sick of trying to compare their life to the perfect lives of all their friends. Being the good (nosy) friend that I am, I asked who they were referring to as having the “perfect” life. When they mentioned someone we knew in high school, I almost choked on my water. Although I didn’t share the details with them I did explain that not everything is always how it seems on social media. The person they thought had the perfect life had been cheated on, divorced, works two part-time jobs and was living with their parents again. Nothing to be ashamed of but I would say far from what they would claim as a perfect life.
This discussion made me think about how many Larry versions there are out there. (Larry Liars.) That’s ok though. Why do we think we deserve to have intimate knowledge of all sides of someones life via social media, just because they post vacation photos. Is it because they post group holiday greetings or wish you a happy birthday (as reminded by Facebook) every year? If you do not know them well enough to call them or invite them into your home then why would you expect them to share the bad days with you? So they are a Larry version. Not a true Larry. More of a Larry by omission.
I myself am happy to be a full-fledged member of the Larry society. As a (aspiring) fiction author I take great pride in making things up! I can’t wait to spread my lies via Amazon this fall!
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